"Better Than Being A Cheat": Monty Panesar Responds To Steve Smith's 'Mastermind' Dig
Responding to Steve Smith's comments, Monty Panesar said that his performance in the quiz show 'Mastermind' was shocking, but it was better than being a 'cheat'.
- Steve Smith mocked Monty Panesar’s 2019 Mastermind quiz show appearance before the first Ashes Test
- Smith's comment came after Panesar targeted him over his role in the 2018 Sandpapergate ball-tampering scandal
- "If I'm guilty of anything, it's having bad general knowledge. That's better than being a cheat," Panesar said
One of England's finest spinners in the longest format, Monty Panesar, suddenly found his name in the headlines as Australia's stand-in skipper for the first Ashes Test, Steve Smith, recalled his brain-fade moment at the quiz show 'Mastermind'. Smith's comments came after Panesar urged fans and players to target the stand-in Australia captain during the Ashes over his part in the 2018 "Sandpapergate" affair. But Monty wasn't keen on sitting quietly after being mocked by the Australian cricket stalwart.
"To think that he wanted to talk about me before one of the biggest days of his career -- when he will lead Australia out against England as he stands in for absent captain Pat Cummins -- is flattering, and nothing short of hilarious," Panesar wrote in his column for the Telegraph UK.
"I cannot believe he has dug out the old YouTube clip of my shocker and memorised it word by word. I must admit I am delighted to have got so far inside his head, but if I am able to achieve that, imagine how much damage Ben Stokes and his side are going to be able to do once play starts in Perth?" he added.
This is the video Steve Smith was talking about during the pre match Ashes presser. He did Monty Panesar real dirty here. Worth a watch and a giggle. Enjoy
— Troll cricket unlimitedd (@TUnlimitedd) November 20, 2025
Name of the show-'Mastermind 2019' pic.twitter.com/T2KPssvzwH
Smith was banned for a year and sacked as skipper after conspiring to alter the ball during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.
"I'm going to go off topic for a second here," Smith said when asked about his take on Panesar's criticism. "Who of you in the room has seen 'Mastermind' and Monty Panesar on that?
"Any of you? Well, those of you who have, you'll understand where I'm coming from, and those of you who haven't, do yourself a favour because it's pretty comical.
"Anyone who believes that Athens is in Germany, that's a start, Oliver Twist is a season of the year, and America is a city.
"Doesn't really bother me, those comments," he added, as he seemed fully prepared to take on the Panesar question during the media conference. "That's as far as I'll go with that one."
In his reply to Smith mocking his 2019 appearance on a celebrity edition of the British quiz show "Mastermind", Panesar asked if the Australian batter can even look at himself in the mirror for what he did in the past (Sandpapergate scandal).
"We've both made mistakes, but at least mine was on a celebrity quiz show. His was on a cricket field, and we both have to live by them. It seems right now only one of us can. etter than being a cheat. But if I'm guilty of anything, it is having bad general knowledge. And that is better than being a cheat," wrote Panesar.
"I would actually ask Steve whether he can look himself in the mirror yet and admit that he was part of 'Sandpapergate', the worst example of Australian cheating in history. Steve has just displayed a massive weakness and mental vulnerability that, at this level of elite sport, you cannot afford to do," Panesar wrote.
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